1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a file management method, a program therefor, a recording medium containing the program, and a file management apparatus for performing the method, and can be applied to, for example, car-mounted apparatuses which play back optical disks created by personal computers, etc. The present invention makes it possible to easily and securely find a file of desired content, or the like, by displaying representations of files belonging to a predetermined folder and representations of files belonging to a subfolder of the folder in a virtual form in which the files belonging to the predetermined folder and the files belonging to the subfolder belong to a single folder.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a car-mounted audio apparatus of the related art, a compact disk can be played back.
A personal computer can obtain and store a file of desired music content by accessing a server for music content distribution, and can record the music content file on a compact disk recordable (CD-R) and a compact disk rewritable (CD-RW).
When the personal computer records the music content file on the CD-R or CD-RW, the file is recorded in a data-compressed form in many cases, and this can record a large quantity of music content on a single CD-R. In addition, by using a layered structure composed of folders having genre names, artist names, etc., a large number of files can be recorded. This makes it possible to easily and securely select desired music content by operating the personal computer.
If files of variously compressed music content for use in the personal computer are played back also by the car-mounted audio apparatus, CD-Rs and CD-RWs having content recorded by personal computers can be enjoyed in a car.
The personal computers use a layered structure of folders to manage files, while car-mounted apparatuses have a defect in that it cannot display such a layered structure on a large screen differently from the personal computers since it has a relatively small display unit. In personal computer file management using the layered structure, in order to select a desired file, the personal computer must sequentially follow subfolders from an upper folder, and must select the desired file by using files of various software applications. Accordingly, in the case of enjoying with the car-mounted apparatus CD-Rs and CD-RWs having content recorded by personal computers, it is difficult to easily and securely find the file of desired content.
In particular, since a driver must concentrate on driving, it is difficult for the driver to operate the car-mounted apparatus in order to enjoy a CD-R or CD-RW having computer-recorded content, and in the worst case, the operation of the car-mounted apparatus may cause an accident.
In view of the above circumstances, the present invention is made and an object thereof is to provide a file management method, a program therefor, a recording medium containing the program, and a file management apparatus for performing the method.
To this end, according to an aspect of the present invention, a file management method for accessing a recording unit in which files are recorded in a layered structure is provided. The file management method includes an address-information acquisition step for acquiring from the recording unit first information on the addresses in the layered structure of files belonging to a predetermined folder and second information on the addresses in the layered structure of files belonging to a subfolder of the predetermined folder, a display step for, based on the first information and the second information, displaying representations of the files belonging to the predetermined folder and representations of the files belonging to the subfolder in a virtual form in which the files belonging to the predetermined folder and the files belonging to the subfolder belong to a single folder, and a selected-file acceptance step for using the screen displayed by the display step to accept a file selected from among the files belonging to the predetermined folder and the files belonging to the subfolder.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a program for performing a file management method for accessing recording unit in which files are recorded in a layered structure is provided. The file management method includes an address-information acquisition step for acquiring from the recording unit first information on the addresses in the layered structure of files belonging to a predetermined folder and second information on the addresses in the layered structure of files belonging to a subfolder of the predetermined folder, a display step for, based on the first information and the second information, displaying representations of the files belonging to the predetermined folder and representations of the files belonging to the subfolder in a virtual form in which the files belonging to the predetermined folder and the files belonging to the subfolder belong to a single folder, and a selected-file acceptance step for using the screen displayed by the display step to accept a file selected from among the files belonging to the predetermined folder and the files belonging to the subfolder.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a recording medium containing a program for performing a file management method for accessing recording unit in which files are recorded in a layered structure is provided. The file management method includes an address-information acquisition step for acquiring from the recording unit first information on the addresses in the layered structure of files belonging to a predetermined folder and second information on the addresses in the layered structure of files belonging to a subfolder of the predetermined folder, a display step for, based on the first information and the second information, displaying representations of the files belonging to the predetermined folder and representations of the files belonging to the subfolder in a virtual form in which the files belonging to the predetermined folder and the files belonging to the subfolder belong to a single folder, and a selected-file acceptance step for using the screen displayed by the display step to accept a file selected from among the files belonging to the predetermined folder and the files belonging to the subfolder.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a file management apparatus for accessing recording unit in which files are recorded in a layered structure is provided. The file management apparatus includes an address-information acquisition unit for acquiring from the recording unit first information on the addresses in the layered structure of files belonging to a predetermined folder and second information on the addresses in the layered structure of files belonging to a subfolder of the predetermined folder, a display unit for, based on the first information and the second information, displaying representations of the files belonging to the predetermined folder and representations of the files belonging to the subfolder in a virtual form in which the files belonging to the predetermined folder and the files belonging to the subfolder belong to a single folder, and a file-selecting step for using the screen displayed by the display unit to accept a file selected from among the files belonging to the predetermined folder and the files belonging to the subfolder.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a file management method for downloading a desired file to a predetermined recording medium by accessing recording unit in which file are recorded in a layered structure is provided. The file management method includes the steps of acquiring from the recording unit first information on the addresses in the layered structure of files belonging to a predetermined folder and second information on the addresses in the layered structure of files belonging to a subfolder of the predetermined folder, and creating, based on the first and second information, folders respectively corresponding to the predetermined folder and the subfolder in a single layer in the recording medium, and recording on the recording medium files belonging to the predetermined folder and the subfolder.
According to the present invention, by displaying representations of the files belonging to the predetermined folder and representations of the files belonging to the subfolder in a virtual form in which the files belonging to the predetermined folder and the files belonging to the subfolder belong to a single folder, the file of desired content, etc., can be easily and securely found.